The Los Angeles Lakers might have dropped to 0-3 in the season at the hands of intra-city rival Los Angeles Clippers, but there some reasons to be optimistic moving forward especially after Jeremy Lin played his best game in purple-and-gold uniform.
Lin, who scored a combined 13 points on 30 percent field goal shooting in the first two games, finally came alive on Friday as he finished the game with 17 points and 9 assists in a 118-111 loss to the Clippers at Staples Center.
The 26-year old Lin was also sensational down the stretch, providing some huge baskets late, including a huge fade-away three-point shot over the outstretched hands of Chris Paul to give the Lakers a three-point margin, 106-103, with four minutes left in the game.
Paul recorded just 12 points and 10 assists, but the Clippers managed to eke out a hard-earned victory behind Blake Griffin's 39 points. Nevertheless, Lin's impressive outing has definitely caught the attention of his teammates and the Lakers coaching staffs.
Kobe Bryant, who finished with 21 and seven assists in the game, has apparently ignited Lin's breakout showing after he called him out to orchestrate plays efficiently during the game against the Phoenix Suns.
Lin revealed that he indeed received a peptalk from the Lakers superstar, particularly about sharing the ball and trusting one another in every ball possession.
"We talked through some things and tried to open it up a little bit tonight," Lin said in the post-game interview via ESPN. "We tried to get everything moving and the ball popping. We learned to trust each other more.
"We're growing and figuring out to trust each other the right way. Just trying to create and attack and make as many plays as possible.'
It has been a very busy opening week for Lin and the Lakers as they play their second back-to-back stint of the season against the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena on Saturday.
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